1891-92.] NOTE ON EARLY SltEAMBOATS. 175 
but these early efforts were of the character of experiments, and it is 
generally conceded that the first really successful attempt to navigate 
water by steam power for regular public traffic was in 1807. 
In that year a vessel named the “Clermont” was launched on the 
Hudson. She was built by Mr. Fulton, who had visited Scotland and 
profited by the efforts of Miller and Symington. Fulton was assisted 
with money by Mr. Livingstone, then American Minister at Paris. The 
“Clermont” was 130 feet long with a breadth of 16% feet. Her engine 
was made in England, at the celebrated works of Boulton & Watt. She 
attained a speed of five miles an hour, proved a practical success and 
carried goods and passengers between New York and Albany for some 
years. 
If we have the best grounds for stating that to Canada is due the honour 
of sending to sea the pioneer ocean steamship, we must fully acknow- 
ledge that the first steamboat in the world, regularly and continuously 
engaged in passenger traffic, was produced in the United States. 
In 1809, two years after the “Clermont” made her trial trip on the 
Hudson, the first steamboat appeared on the St. Lawrence. I am indebted 
to Dr.S. E. Dawson for the following interesting details: “On November 
3rd, 1809, the steamer “ Accommodation,” carrying ten passengers, left 
Montreal on Wednesday at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, and arrrived 
at Quebec on Saturday at 8 o’clock in the morning. She anchored every 
night, and that practice was continued for many years on the St. 
Lawrence, so that of the 66 hours which intervened between her depar- 
ture and arrival at Quebec, 30 hours were spent at anchor ; the trip was 
therefore made in 36 hours. This steamer was built for John Molson, 
the first of the name. She was 75 feet long in the keel and 85 feet long 
on deck.” 
In addition to these details, the following which appears in the Quebec 
Mercury, after the arrival of the vesssel on her trial trip, may be of some 
interest: “On Saturday morning at 8 o’clock, arrived here from Montreal, 
being her first trip, the steam-boat “ Accommodation,” with ten passengers. 
This is the first vessel of the kind that ever appeared in the-harbour. She 
is continually crowded with visitants. She left Montreal on Wednesday at 
two o'clock, so that her passsage was sixty-six hours, thirty of which she 
was at anchor. She arrived at Three-Rivers in twenty-four hours. She 
has at present berths for twenty passengers, which next year will be con- 
siderably augmented. No wind or tide can stop her. She is 75 feet keel 
and 85 feet on deck. The price for a passage up is nine dollars, and eight 
down—the vessel supplying provisions. The great advantage attending 
